Tracy Zhu '08

Studying environmental studies at Mount Holyoke introduced to me the complexities of the perception of the environment. My summer internship at EGA introduced me to the realistic consequences of how those perceptions inform the funders and foundations, the people who make decisions about which environmental causes are priorities. I am learning about how philanthropists talk, think, and network in order to make grantgiving more effective in the environmental movement. NGOs and environmental groups are financially dependent for the most part on foundation grants and private donations to do the work that they do, so it is crucial that environmental philanthropists be informed and strategic about where they put their money. What I have been doing as in intern helps me learn about how the environmental movement functions on a day-to-day basis to make changes from a local level to the global level.